(You're probably already aware, but just in case -- Wikipedia runs on MediaWiki.)

Re: webhund's "Mediawiki on a (USB) stick" link -- the first option on that page is for installing MediaWiki with MoWeS Portable. I've used MoWeS Portable before (not with MediaWiki in particular, though) and found it pretty easy to set up either on a USB drive or on a local hard drive (YMMV). The MoWeS "mixer" can package up all of the software you need to run it. It's free, but only available for Windows.

Another option is the Bitnami MediaWiki Stack, which has all the required software already bundled in one customized installer. (If you're not familiar with setting up web servers/databases, I think the Bitnami stack installation is more user-friendly than the MoWeS Portable route.) It's available for Windows, Linux, or Mac -- download a full stack (it's free) from the native installers section (you can also use a "module" download if you want to run a more general stack and try other Bitnami software stacks). One downside to this option is that it's not "portable" (no Bitnami on a stick).

If you get going with Tomboy, the Ubuntu One service (windows and linux also) will back up your notes remotely and provide a password-protected online version of them.posted by XMLicious at 11:17 PM on February 15, 2012

JAMWiki can be backed by flat files instead of a database but still requires a Java web server to be installed... Resin is fairly light-weight, but would still take a little bit of know-how to set up.

It implements many of MediaWiki's features like categories, templates, and some parser functions.posted by XMLicious at 11:29 PM on February 15, 2012

I used to use a wiki, but it got too fiddly so now I store information in plain text files, synced on Dropbox, using Notational Velocity.posted by wingless_angel at 4:15 AM on February 16, 2012

At home, I have deployed Dokuwiki. My wife and I love it. It doesn't require a database but it does require a web server and PHP to be installed (most versions of Windows have IIS). All Dokuwiki pages are stored in text files. Very fast, stable and lots of plugins to do fancy stuff. I'd swear by it. I've run it on my always-on desktop for about the last six years and it has never, ever crashed.posted by tra at 8:28 AM on February 16, 2012

I'll take a look at these after work and report back, but thank-you for all of the responses.

In answer to some of the comments - I'm running Windows 7, and have a computer-science degree and was once a pretty decent C programmer, though those days are a little behind me now. Still relatively tech-capable, though.posted by iftheaccidentwill at 9:16 AM on February 16, 2012

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